Introduction

Task

Identifying non-coding RNA genes in the genomes of several teleost fish. With the help of tools which determine genome-wide mutiple alignments, make predictions of RNA secundary structures and sequence-structure-based prediction methods some ncRNA candidates were extracted from the genomes. The aim of this project is the further analysis of this dataset.

Background

ncRNA

Non-coding RNAs are RNA molecules which are not translated into proteins but already fulfil a function right after transcription.

Known ncRNAs:

microRNA
tRNA
rRNA
snRNA (splicosom)
snoRNA (editing of rRNA)

Takifugu rubripes

The Japanese pufferfish Fugu rubripes has the shortest known genome of any vertebrate species. As vertebrates, fish and humans share not only the defining characteristic of a backbone, but also many basic anatomical and physiological similarities. The compact Fugu genome contains the same basic vertebrate blueprint as the human genome in a sequence seven times shorter. This difference is primarily due to the scarcity in Fugu of the large repeat-filled tracts that litter the human genome. The relative compactness of the Fugu genome simplifies the detection and analysis of both gene sequences and gene regulatory elements.